Alarm Response (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: A morning shopping trip goes sideways.


_Insert sincere thanks to my fellow REAL World writers and boundless gratitude to our readers here. I really suck at ANs._

 _Small schedule change this week. You get me today and Ilna will be posting on Friday._

* * *

 **Alarm Response (1/1)**

Steve's phone buzzed with an incoming call just as he and Danny were exiting HPD after interviewing a murder suspect who'd been caught up in a drug sweep the previous night. He glanced at the screen and saw Elizabeth's name. "Hi, Elizabeth. How's your day with Angie going?"

There was an uncharacteristic tightness in his mother-in-law's voice as it came through the phone. _"Are you busy right now, Steve?"_

Steve's jaw tightened and every one of his senses went on immediate high alert. "What's wrong? Is Angie ok? Are you ok?"

Danny felt his own heart start to race as he leaned in closer in an attempt to hear the other end of the conversation.

" _Angie is fine. I'm fine. I promise. I just need you to come right away if you can."_

Steve broke into a sprint towards the car which was parked at the far end of the lot. "Tell me where."

Danny barely made it into the passenger's seat and got his seatbelt fastened before Steve threw the car in gear and sped towards the highway.

* * *

The young man standing in the corner of the small, windowless room startled when the door was flung open without a knock. For a minute he thought he was seeing things. Through a haze of confusion he found his voice.

"Commander McGarrett?" he asked nervously. "What are you … ? What I mean is there's no need… I notified HPD as a matter of standard procedure that I had detained a suspect but I don't think this incident calls for Five-0 … "

He trailed off as Steve breezed past him towards the woman sitting in a tattered looking folding chair in the back of the office making happy faces at the baby in the stroller sitting next to her. "Are you ok?" he asked the woman as he unbuckled the baby from her carrier.

"I'm fine," Elizabeth Rollins replied with a huff. "Just irritated."

"What about you?" he cooed as he lifted the baby into his arms and cradled her to his chest. "How's Daddy's girl?"

Danny Williams knew that every time he told this story in the coming years, and he was sure there would be many, his biggest regret would be that he didn't snap a picture of the young security officer's face at the precise moment he realized the relationship between Steve McGarrett and the woman and child sitting across the room from him.

When the immediate shock wore off he turned large, questioning eyes towards Danny.

"Daddy?" he mouthed.

Danny nodded in the affirmative. He almost felt bad for the young man who tugged at his suddenly too tight tie and wiped his sweaty palms on his freshly pressed pants.

"What's going on here?" Steve asked once he was satisfied both Angie and Elizabeth were unharmed.

"Well, sir …" the young man began to speak but Steve cut him off with a glare.

"I'm not talking to you," he said in clipped tone.

Elizabeth, who was substantially more relaxed now that Steve and Danny had arrived, took a deep breath and began to unwind the story.

"Angie and I were enjoying our morning, just doing some Christmas shopping."

"Baaah aaaah ah," Angie squealed happily.

Steve beamed at her. "Is that right?" he asked. "Were you and Grandma playing Santa's little helpers?"

"We had just come out of the jewelry store when suddenly this alarm sounded and Gerard here," Elizabeth pointed towards the young, uniformed security officer who suddenly seemed to be trying very hard to fade into the wallpaper, "appeared out of nowhere. I assured him I hadn't stolen anything. I showed him the new watch band I bought for Joseph _and_ the receipt," she said pointedly.

Steve turned and looked at Gerard who was licking his lips, desperately hoping for some moisture to return to his mouth.

"Then what happened?" he asked as he continued to gently bounce Angie.

Gerard stood frozen.

"He wants you to talk now," Danny said helpfully.

"Me? Okay … well … before asking to look in any purses or bags I did a cursory search of the stroller and baby carrier and that's when I found this." Gerard crossed to the desk and picked up a diamond teardrop necklace with an attached security tag.

"I told him that Angie loves shiny things and she must have wanted to play with it and grabbed it while I was talking to the clerk," Elizabeth huffed.

"I felt like …" Gerard's voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I felt like she was too quick to blame the baby. I mean she's very young. I thought maybe Mrs. Rollins …"

"Dr. Rollins," Steve corrected.

"Dr. Rollins … sorry … was using her as a scapegoat."

Steve's free hand went to his hip and Danny shook his head as he watched the interaction with a certain level of amusement.

"We get a lot of people who do that," Gerard insisted. "They try to blame their kids when they were really the ones doing the stealing. Last week there was a woman with an X-Box 360 stuffed in a stroller she tried to claim the baby took. I said to her ..."

"Stop talking," Danny suggested with a barely concealed smile. The kid seemed basically decent if maybe just a little over zealous.

"If you would have just stepped back inside the store as I suggested several times," Elizabeth growled, "I'm sure the clerk would have backed up my story."

"The store was very busy and I wanted to get the situation under control in case you tried to get away … "

"Seriously," Danny cut him off, his voice louder this time. "Stop talking."

Gerard, however, couldn't help himself. "If I had known who she was I probably would have handled the situation differently. I'm applying to the police academy in the spring. I obviously don't want any trouble with you, Commander McGarrett."

In the hallway they heard rapidly approaching high heels.

"It's actually not me you have to worry about." Steve grinned as Catherine appeared in the doorway.

Without so much as an introduction she demanded, "I want to know who accused my mother and my daughter of shoplifting and I want to know now."

Every set of eyes in the room turned to Gerard who gulped audibly.

"That would be me, ma'am," he managed to get out as several beads of sweat appeared on his upper lip.

"Would you please explain why," she glanced at his nametag, "Gerard?"

"Well," he shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, "I found a necklace in the baby's carrier that set off the alarm when they left the store. I asked Mrs. Rollins … I mean Dr. Rollins … if she had a receipt and she said she didn't."

Catherine crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you ask Dr. Rollins how the necklace got in the carrier in the first place?"

Gerard nodded. "I did. She said the baby must have grabbed it while she was distracted talking to the clerk about a watchband."

Catherine's eyes narrowed. "But you didn't believe that." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I was suspicious." Gerard stuffed his hands in his pockets. "A lot of times people use their kids and grandkids as an excuse so they can steal stuff they want for themselves. Believe it or not older ladies are the worst."

Danny dropped his chin to his chest. This kid just couldn't stop sticking his foot in his mouth.

Catherine strode across the room to where Steve stood holding Angie. She held out her hands and waggled her fingers at the happy infant who immediately held out her arms to go to her mother. The second she was in Catherine's arms she reached for the shiny gold necklace her mother was wearing.

"Aaaaah Aaaah," Angie squealed happily.

As Catherine turned to face Gerard Angie grabbed her mother's hair with her free hand.

"They grab everything at this age," Catherine said, her tone much softer.

Gerard's face pinked. "I see that."

"It's not that you questioned my mother when the alarm went off," Catherine explained patiently, "That's fine. No one is above the law. It's that it appears you escalated a situation that could have been taken care of very easily by simply talking to the clerk in the store."

"If I had it to do over again I would definitely do things differently," Gerard admitted candidly. "It's just that … nevermind … I don't want to make an excuse." His back straightened. "I take full responsibility."

"Finish what you were going to say," Steve prodded.

"It's my first week on my own without my training officer and my boss is at lunch and I … didn't make the best decision I could have. But again, that's no excuse." Gerard nodded solemnly. "I could have handled it better."

"I appreciate you saying that," Elizabeth told him sincerely.

"I do too," Catherine added.

"It's just that …" Gerard began.

"No! Stop!" Danny laughed. "You need to learn to stop talking sometimes. Quit while you're ahead."

"Aaah aaah!" Danny's laughter caused Angie to react with glee.

"Is that Miss Angeline I hear?" Duke said in a sing-song voice as he entered the room.

"Sergeant Lukela. I'm sorry. You didn't need to come all the way over here," Gerard stammered. "I was just following procedure and reporting the incident to the police."

"Calm down, Gerard." Duke smiled placidly. "When I saw the name on the report I knew there must have been some kind of mix-up. I figured I'd just swing by and see if I could help." He reached out and tickled Angie's belly. "But I see your parents and your Uncle Danny already have things under control, don't they?"

Angie giggled and grabbed for his fingers. "Aaahhh ahhhh!"

"Yes." Catherine grinned. "It appears our daughter's newfound grip strength and attraction to shiny objects combined to create a bit of a problem."

"Is that so?" Duke cooed, never taking his eyes off Angie. "Well, I can promise you one thing … you're the cutest little thief this mall has seen in a long time. Yes, you are."

"Who's calling my granddaughter a thief?" Joseph mock glared as he entered the small room which by this point felt very crowded.

"You didn't need to come, Joseph." Elizabeth smiled. "I told you I'd handle everything."

"I know you did." Joseph crossed the room and kissed her cheek. "And I didn't doubt it for a minute. I just dropped Ang off to get her hair done and had some time to kill so I thought I'd stop by and see if you needed any bail money," he chuckled.

"Everything's been taken care of," Catherine said. "Isn't that right, Gerard?"

"Yes, ma'am." The young security officer stepped over to face Elizabeth directly. "I apologize, Dr. Rollins. I shouldn't have acted so hastily. I should have taken a few minutes to actually listen to you and then gone back in and talked to the store clerk."

Elizabeth reached out and shook his hand. "Apology accepted." Gerard reminded her so much of her former students, young and eager to do a good job and make a good impression. "We all make mistakes. It's part of life. The important thing is that we learn from them."

Gerard nodded. "Thank you. I'll do better in the future. I promise."

"I believe you." Elizabeth smiled. "Now are my granddaughter and I free to finish our shopping?"

"Yes, ma'am." The young man nodded earnestly.

"In that case, then," she reached out her arms for Angie who giggled and came willingly, "we'll be on our way."

Duke winked at Steve and Catherine. "I'm gonna stay here and talk to Gerard for a few minutes."

"Go easy on him," Catherine requested.

"I will."

"I'm sure he'd much rather talk to Duke than you and Steve," Danny snorted.

"I wasn't that bad," Steve insisted.

Catherine linked her arm with her husband's. "Me either."

"Not anywhere close to as bad as you could have been," Danny agreed. "But if you could have seen that poor kid's face when he realized who he was dealing with."

Danny chuckled and followed them out of the office where they ran into Joseph, Elizabeth and Angie in the small hallway. Steve and Catherine both kissed Angie and told her to have fun with Grandma and that they'd see her soon.

"I'm kind of looking forward to tonight," Joseph teased as the group made their way back towards the main concourse of the mall. "I've never spent an evening with a criminal before. It feels … " he waggled his eyebrows, "dangerous. I like it."

"Dad," Catherine replied in a shocked tone.

Picking up on her daughter's embarrassment Elizabeth couldn't help getting in on the fun. "Mall jail has changed me," she said solemnly. "I've seen things. Things I can't unsee."

"Okay," Catherine sighed good-naturedly, "that's enough."

"I feel like I want to pick up something special this afternoon to commemorate my new bad girl status." Elizabeth's eyes sparkled. "Maybe something leather."

"Mom," Catherine gasped as all the color drained from Steve's face.

"I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this moment," Danny exalted. "Finally these two are getting a taste of their own medicine."

Joseph and Elizabeth chuckled as Danny thrust both fists in the air.

Catherine shared a moment of unspoken communication with Steve then looked at her parents. Her competitive nature just couldn't let Danny think he'd gotten the last word.

"Well, if you're dead set on leather," she replied matter-of-factly, "I have some you can borrow that's already worn in so it's nice and soft."

Danny dropped his arms and stared, open mouthed at the others who were all struggling to keep their faces neutral.

When Catherine couldn't stand it any longer she gave in to the laughter she'd been suppressing. Once she did Steve, Joseph and Elizabeth followed suit.

"Very funny. Very funny," Danny grumbled. "You're all a bunch of comedians."

Steve smirked. "You should have seen your face."

"Yeah … well … I need to stop by the toy store before we head back to work. I'm going to buy my adorable niece and goddaughter every toy in the place that makes noise."

Steve and Catherine grimaced slightly at the thought.

"Who's laughing now?" Danny grinned. "I wonder if they make a baby drum set."

 **THE END**

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